


Don't forget yourself.

by moonspads



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Tales From The SMP - Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Loss, Minor Character Death, Time Travel, Time Travelling Karl Jacobs, Web Series: Tales from the SMP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29657385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonspads/pseuds/moonspads
Summary: The vibrant colour of the red in the contrast to the pale whites and greys hurt his eyes, everything is too much. He somehow manages to move himself slowly across the floor, gripping the cold stone shelving. Books fall to the floor as he tries to push himself up, pages tearing, falling open, the covers falling against each other, clattering as they fall to the ground. The bright colours of the paintings that line the walls hurt his eyes, where is he?-Where Karl starts to forget who is.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Comments: 4
Kudos: 73





	Don't forget yourself.

**Author's Note:**

> I have never written Karlnap before so this is a first, but I just love the Tales From The SMP so I couldn't not
> 
> Also this is based on the SMP personas of Karl and Sapnap and not the real people,,,
> 
> If either CC expresses discomfort with this form of work I will take it down :)

The room clears slightly, he blinks a few times as a visible line appears between the previous blur of the red and grey mushrooms that cover the walls. The vibrant colour of the red in the contrast to the pale whites and greys hurt his eyes, everything is too much. He somehow manages to move himself slowly across the floor, gripping the cold stone shelving. Books fall to the floor as he tries to push himself up, pages tearing, falling open, the covers falling against each other, clattering as they fall to the ground. The bright colours of the paintings that line the walls hurt his eyes, where is he? He reaches out to open one of the books that remained laid out on the shelf, the lettering on the front reading “The Lost City of Mizu”, what? 

Everything feels cold, an uncomfortable wind drives across the room. It was warm just moments ago, the book in his hands seeming untouched by the sudden change in temperature. As he flicks through the pages of the book, the surprise the sudden cold climate makes him realize how much his head burn, how his vision is hazed, how the words seem to run across the page and how nothing makes sense. His muscles ache, exhausting flows through him, who is he again? The room suddenly blurs over, and everything is falling. He collides with the ground before realises what’s happening, his ears ring and the burning sensation is stronger than before at the back of his head. Tears well in his eyes, what’s happening to him? Lifting his head from the ground slightly he notices a ladder at the opposite end of the room, he wasn’t entirely sure where it would lead, but it would have to go somewhere.

His hands were clammy as he tried to climb the wooden ladder, desperately trying to make his way up, his legs sore as his feet slipped from the beam time and time again, the coarse fabric of his jeans beginning irritating his skin. By the time he managed to make his way to the top of the ladder, after constantly losing his balance and falling down, he was exhausted; using the last of his strength to push open the wooden trap door, he threw himself onto the floor lying limp, not a care for where he was, too tired to think about the consequences. As he lay unmoving on the floor, he began to drift of to sleep, trying to regain some strength and energy. He was completely unaware of his surrounding, until he was mildly aware of someone’s hands on him, trying to move his head and roll him onto him back, alongside this there was a distant voice talking. Without aim or success he began to wave his arms around trying to push the person away, fear spiking as he became more aware of the unknow being sat next to him.

“Karl… Karl, are you okay? Karl?” he heard the voice get louder, who was this person, and more importantly who was Karl? He tried to push himself up and move away, they clearly had the wrong person. As he shuffled backwards against the floor, trying to get away, he felt a warm hand press against his shoulder and another one on the side of his face, cupping his cheeks, the other person raised his head, looking into his eyes. His vision was still blurry from exhaustion and hitting his head on the ground meaning he couldn’t tell who they were. “Karl?” they asked again voice quiet, filled with worry, it was then that he realised they most definitely had the right person and they seemed to know who he was, he was Karl. He brought his fist to his eyes, rubbing them slightly to try and wipe the haze away, blinking a few times before looking at the person kneeling in front of him again.

“James?” he asked confused, the man in front of him was dressed very differently to how he remembered James, he wore a white t shirt with some picture of fire on it, and a black undershirt, alongside this he also a white bandana wrapped around his head. This was wrong, very wrong, physically he looked exactly like James, facial structure, eyes, hair, but this wasn’t him, it couldn’t be. He’d seen the body, the cold lifeless eyes and the blood seeping through his shirt, James was dead. Another issue arose from that, hadn’t he also died? A slight memory in the back of his head rose, he remembered running then being pushed to the ground, followed by the feeling of immense pain, then nothing. That could be how he got to wherever he was now or perhaps he was dead and was simply in heaven, or something similar. Despite this Karl brought his knees up to his chest and pushed the base of his palms against his eyes burring his head, what was happening? 

When he looked up again, the previously confused and worried face had been replaced by something of nightmares. It was exactly what he remembered. James cold eyes, glassy with what would’ve been tears as he bled out slowly and alone, the skin had grey undertones, blood smeared across the side of his face, looking down Karl noticed the rip in his shirt, wet, crimson blood surrounding it. The previously royal mask that he had worn to the ball was cracked slightly across the eye by impact. Tears streamed down Karl’s face as he crawled backwards, “this isn’t real, this isn’t real, you died, you’re dead, I’m dead, this isn’t real you’re not here,” he chanted, sobbing slightly, hiding his head in his arms. He jumped, breath hitching, moving further backwards as he felt a hand press against the side of his head, brushing his hair. “James, stop, you’re dead. I’m dead. You’re not here” he spoke again this time with more aggression, willing for this nightmare to end, violent sobs breaking from his chest, he just wanted this to be over.

“Who’s James?” they asked, keeping their voice calm and quite, but they couldn’t mask the worry that spilled through, “It’s Sap, Karl.” He tried to continue, before Karl tried to push away, he didn’t know who this person was or what they wanted with him, “Hey, calm down, you’re safe, you’re okay, you’re alive,” he ran his fingers through Karl’s hair as he spoke, as he still had his head pressed against his knees, hiding his face. He was terrified, he had no idea what was happening, he didn’t know how he got here or why he couldn’t remember anything. He just wanted to go home.

Karl raised his head slightly, chin resting on his knees, tears streaming down his face, “I don’t know who you are,” he whispered, sobbing slightly, “I don’t know who you are, who I am, or where I am, I don’t know what’s happening” he admitted, as he realised that this other person seemed to know who he was and deep down there was a feeling Karl couldn’t deny, he knew he could trust him, he wasn’t sure why, but something felt right about his presence. He continued to cry, allowing himself to be manhandled, the other man pulling Karl against his chest, holding him tightly. 

“You’re names Karl, Karl Jacobs,” he began, rubbing one hand across Karl’s arms, the other cradling his head as he sobbed against his chest, “I’m Sapnap, you’re finance, okay?” the name rang to no recollections is Karl’s mind, “We’re in Kinoko Kingdom, you started this place, we live here, so does our friend, George, our other friends like Foolish and Bad come and see us, they also helped us build everything. This building that we’re in now is the library, you wanted this to be the first place built.” By the time Sapnap had finished talking Karl had stopped crying, his memories were still slightly hazy, and pieces were definitely missing but everything Sapnap had said made sense, even though he could remember a little about what was said, it was still something.

“Sap?” Karl questioned looking up at him with glassy eyes, “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. He wasn’t entirely sure why he felt the need to apologise, but he knew he had probably scared the younger half to death with what had just happened, even though he didn’t know what was happening either. Karl pushed his head against Sapnap’s chest, closing his eyes, after everything that had happened, he was exhausted, his head still hurt, and his body still ached, and he just wanted to sleep. As he closed his eyes he was met with a question.

“Why are you sorry?” Sapnap asked, petting Karl’s hair, running his fingers through the brunette curls, his grip still tight, holding Karl in place. He was genuinely confused as to why he had felt the need to apologise, he hadn’t done to warrant giving an apology. Nothing that had happened was his fault. It may have been scary and stressful, but it most definitely wasn’t his partner’s fault.

“For forgetting you, for forgetting all of this,” he mumbled, his body still pressed tightly against the others, in search of warmth, comfort and protection.

“That’s not your fault, do you know what happened?” Sap asked, wondering what had happened to get him into this situation. If there was something that he could do to prevent this in the future or if this was simply a one-off issue.

“I don’t remember, I just woke up downstairs and I didn’t know who I was or where I was, I don’t know what happened,” He confessed, despite most of what he was saying was a lie. Thankfully, after Sapnap explained everything to him and he’d calmed down he’d started to remember what was happening. He’d remembered the wars, the violence, the end of everything and then the time travel, the constant changes of the timeline to try to fix the wrongs. After today he’d need to figure out the links between James and Sapnap, he can’t deny that even when he first went back, he’d been confused upon first seeing James, thinking it was his fiancé instead. He wasn’t sure whether there were links between them, however considering that he had noticed there were certain things about the people he meets on his travels that reminds him of people he knows in his current life. James and Sapnap being a prime example of that, but also Sir Billiam and Techno. But for now, he’d forget about that, ignore the growing memory loss that appears when he returns from his travels, ignore the growing confusions that stick with him after visiting a different time, and simply enjoy the comfort he has now. Forget everything in favour of living in the now, falling asleep loved in his fiancé’s arms.

“I love you,” was all Sapnap responded with, kissing the top of the elder’s head gently, grip loosening slightly as he felt his limbs become limp and his breath even signifying, he’d fallen asleep. He had no idea what to make of the situation, who was this James and why was Karl convinced that the both of them were dead. It was clear he wouldn’t receive any answers because as far as he was aware Karl had no idea either. He just wished Karl trusted him enough to tell him what was going on, he knew something was up. The basement that he wasn’t allowed in, how his hoodie always seemed different, never by much or ever really noticeably, but Sapnap knew, or how Karl would disappear for days on end sometimes and then would return like nothing ever happened. Also, as much as he hated to admit it, deep down he knew this wasn’t the first time this has happened, granted it was never this bad, but he’d noticed the vacant look in Karl’s eyes after he returned, he just never wanted to admit it. He wasn’t sure what any of this meant, but he was sure that everything was linked. All he could do is hope that one day Karl would trust him just as much as Sapnap trusted Karl.


End file.
